Fish Factor: Alaskan mariculture expanding from shellfish to seaweed farming

Alaska’s mariculture industry has passed some big milestones, and is getting set to head into the weeds.

Aquatic farming, which was Ok’d by Alaska lawmakers in 1988, topped $1 million in shellfish sales for the first time ever in 2014, coming in at $1.2 million.

“This is the highest sales we’ve had since the inception of the program which is pretty exciting,” said Cynthia Pring-Ham, Director of Mariculture for the state Dept. of Fish and Game, adding that shellfish production increased 27 percent.

That’s an average of $7,049 in sales per acre of active farm, most of which average about five ac...